What other name?

Do you have a nickname?  Something a family member or friend calls you as a term of endearment or maybe even for a joke?

When I was growing up my sister called me Toad.  It was a natural progression really.  My name is Jodi.  Then sometimes in a hurry I would get called Jod.  Then naturally because my sister wanted to rattle my chain a little it became Toad.

I vividly remember the year I joined the ranks of our High School. In my city the High School was grade seven to twelve.  So when I came in my seventh year, my sister was already quite familiar with the ins and outs of the school as a grade niner.  When the bell rang in between classes it was mayhem.  Thousands of students going this way and that way to get to their next room on time.  As a grade sevener it was overwhelming.

One day as I was trying to get from social to english I heard above the chatter and chaos,

Can you help me decide?

I am entering another contest.  This one I join simply because it is fun and challenging.  I have no preconceived notions of winning anything.  All I want is the time away to write.  I participated in it last year and can't wait to do it again.

It is called the 3-Day Novel contest.  And it is simply who can write the best novel in three days.  And yes, there are actually people all around the world that think this is fun.  I am one of them.

Last year I wrote a story about a small town cop who discovers a mysterious woman moving into his town and even into his family. It is a comedy, a love story and a mystery.  Unfortunately on the last day I decided I wouldn't be able to complete the work with all the interwoven subplots in it - due to time.  So I spend three hours on the last afternoon deleting entire sections of the manuscript.  I closed the story off but it was VERY short. Most of my stories come in over 80,000 words.  This one was a dismal 37,000.  But I had fun.

I know where I went wrong though.

I bearly made it - part two

Did you know:

• if you see a bear from more than 100 m (350 ft) you should back away slowly, talk calmly to the bear so he knows you are a human and be sure to have a tree in mind that you could climb in the last second, if necessary.  (What do you do when you meet a bear?)
• you should never look a bear in the eyes
• you should always carry bear spray and a whistle

So, what do you do when you have broken all those rules?

Pray.

In my last post I began the story of when I came face to face with a black bear this summer.  If you missed it, check it our here.  If you read it already, I will give you a little reminder of the story.

On returning to the camp after the beach I knew there

I bearly made it out alive!

And yes ... I do know how to spell.

I had a near (too-near) encounter with a bear at camp.  It is a thrilling story that I want to share with you, but first I have to clarify a little about where my head was at.

This all goes back to a path that God placed me on twenty months ago.  For those of you who follow me regularly you know I am referring to when God asked me to write stories.  If you are new, check out this post for more information.

Ninety percent of the time God gives me the complete story He wants me to write.  However, twice now God has only given me the person.  A real person.

Come with me on a journey back in time to Southridge Bible Camp in northern Saskatchewan.  It is July 17th, 2011.  I am invited to the camp to be the Speaker to the grade 4, 5 and 6 campers.  There are no campers present yet, they will arrive in a couple hours.  Right now I am sitting in the dining hall with about

I'm back and I have so much to share!

Thank you to all who prayed for me while I was away at camp. My week was extra-ordinary in so many ways. God took me to the limit of my trust in Him.  He proved His hand of protection in an unbelievable way.  God also showed me how serious He is about telling His stories of grace.  All that in one week.

My family and I also enjoyed a fun camping experience at Gull lake for a week.  If you haven't seen all the goofy fun we got into as we searched for Big Foot, then be sure to check this link out.  All in all my July was fuller than I wanted, more challenging than I expected and definitely more exciting than I could have imagined.

For starters I want to tell you about my speaking time.  Most of you may know that in our family I am NOT the regular speaker. My husband is a pastor of a rural church that currently serves about 120 people.  He speaks every weekend.  Then he also speaks at summer camps and special events - whenever he is invited to.  I shy away from those things.  I prefer to be silently in the background.  However, three years ago I was asked by a camp north of Lloydminister to speak at their little kids camp.  It was such a stretch for me but I did it!  I was amazed at the Spirit's filling and the incredible closeness I felt to God that week.  I came home telling everyone that it was amazing ... but